Electric mark perforator

ABSTRACT

An electric mark perforator in which when a lead tape having a selected thickness has been positioned in the perforation station defined between a perforated wheel and a cooperating perforating mechanism having a plurality of movable needles, one push button selected from a plurality of push buttons bearing different characters, numerals and/or other symbols which project out of the main body of the perforator is pushed down to rotate the perforated wheel having in its periphery perforated marks corresponding to those of the push buttons until the perforated mark corresponding to that of the pushed-down button comes to face the perforation station in which the lead tape is positioned whereupon rotation of the wheel is stopped and thereafter, the perforation mechanism advances to the perforated wheel so as to insert its plurality of perforation needles through the perforations defining the marks in the perforated wheel, but the needles which define the contour of the particular mark strike against the unperforated areas in the periphery of the wheel, thereby stopping their advance, whereas the remaining needles which do not define the contour of that particular mark pass through the perforations thereby defining the particular mark in the lead tape, and thereafter, the push button is returned to its original position. The above procedure is repeated to define a desired number of marks in the lead tape which in combination represent an information by perforations.

-nited States Patent [191 Otsuka ELECTRIC MARK PERFORATOR [75] Inventor: Katsumi Otsuka, Funabashi, Japan [73] Assignee: NewKon Industrial Co., Ltd.,

Tokyo, Japan 22 Filed: Oct. 13,1972

21 Appl.No.:297,247

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data May 23, 1972 Japan 47-60052 [52] US. Cl 234/51, 234/77, 234/121, 234/131 =[51] Int. Cl. 606k 1/10 [58] Field of Search 234/38, 51, 60, 61, 77, 234/120,121, 131

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,761,509 9/1956 Marshall et al. 234/50 3,017,075 l/l962 Witt 234/50 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,239,352 7/l9 60 France 234/50 Primary Examiner-J. M. Meister Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Frank J. Jordan i571 ABSTRACT An electric mark perforator in which when a lead tape 12 I JJ r/ @2 /4 [111 3,825,179 [4 1 Jul 23, 1974 having a selected thickness has been positioned in the perforation station defined between a perforated wheel and a cooperating perforating mechanism having a plurality of movable needles, one push button selected from a plurality of push buttons bearing different characters, numerals and/or other symbols which project out of the main body of the perforator is pushed down to rotate the perforated wheel having in its periphery perforated marks corresponding to those of the push buttons until the perforated mark corresponding to that of the pushed-down button comes to face the perforation station in which the lead tape is positioned whereupon rotation of the wheel is stopped and thereafter, the perforation mechanism advances to the perforated wheel so as to insert its plurality of perforation needles through the perforations defining the marks in the perforated wheel, but the needles which define the contour of the particular mark strike against the unperforated areas in the periphery of the wheel, thereby stopping their advance, whereas the remaining needles which do not define. the contour of that particular mark pass through the perforations thereby defining the particular mark in the lead tape,

' and thereafter, the push button is returned to its origi nal position. The above procedure is repeated to definea desired number of marks in the lead tape which in combination represent an information by perforations.

10 Claims, 15 Drawing Figures PAIENTI-Immzsxau sum own PATENTEDJUL23I9H saw our 11 PATENTEDJULZSIQH sum '05 or 11 ELECTRIC MARK PERFORATOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a mark perforator for defining desired marks such as characters, numerals and/or other symbols on a recording medium by perforations and more particularly, to an improved mark perforator particularly employed in defining an information comprising marks such as characters, numerals and/or other symbols by perforations which marks may repre sent personal names and/or series numbers on a lead tape which is to be employed in taking medical X-ray photographs.

2. Description of the Prior Art There have been proposed a number of types of marking devices of the above type and in one of the prior art marking devices there is employed, as the recording medium, a plastic film wherein each of the frames of the film has a mark such as a character, numeral or any desired symbol formed of lead embedded therein, the plastic film having such embedded lead marks in the frames being photographed by the conventional X-ray photography procedure. After the photographing, the film is developed by the conventional development procedure to develop only the lead marks in the film. However, the prior art marker requires having a relatively large number of character, numeral or symbol dies on hand to be employed in conjunction with the marker and the prior art marker is rather cumbersome and time-consuming in design and handling and expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, the present invention provides an improved marker which can reduce the number of character, numeral and/or symbol dies to be employed in conjunction with the marker.

The present invention also provides an improved marker which is simpler in design and handling and less expensive.

The present invention is further provides an improved marker in the form of a mark perforator which employs a lead tape as the recording medium and a desired character, numeral or symbol is defined in each of the frames of the tape by perforations. The characters, numerals and/or other symbols defined in the lead tape by perforations may represent personal names and/or series numbers which can be utilized as discrimination means when the lead tape is later photographed by the conventional X-ray photography procedure, for example.

In brief, the mark perforator of the invention generally comprises a drive mechanism for intermittently rotating a perforated wheel having characters, numerals and/or other symbols defined by perforations in the periphery by a predetermined angular distance and for driving a group of perforating needles toward said perforated wheel to define a character, numeral or symbol in a frame of a lead tape positioned between the wheel and needles; a mechanism which prevents the perforating needles from repeatedly defining the mark in the same frame of the lead tape and a lead tape feed mechanism for feeding the tape .by one frame in response to one rotation of the wheel distance. a

by the predetermined angular.

7 According to the present invention, there is provided an electric markperforator which comprises a main body, a springloaded push button actuating mechanism mounted in said main body for reciprocal movement and carrying a plurality of selective mark-bearing push buttons; a main shaft mounted in said main body; a rotatable perforated wheel mounted on said main shaft and having a series of marks perforated therein to be positioned in the perforation position in response to the advance stroke of said button actuating mechanism in its reciprocal movement; said wheel having a stopper adapted to be abutted against by one of said selective push buttons when the one button is actuated by said actuating mechanism; a planetary gear mechanism mounted in concentric relationship with said wheel and including a sun gear and a plurality of planetary gears;

a prime mover operatively connected to said sun gear for rotating said planetary gear mechanism; an internal 0 gear adapted to mesh with said planetary gears and operatively connected to said push button actuating mechanism through a crank including a plate cam having an eccentric boss loosely mounted on said main shaft; a push button return lever operatively connected to said plate cam having an eccentric boss for operation in response to the reciprocal movement of said push 7 button actuating mechanism; a perforating mechanism having aplurality of perforating needles mounted on said main body for movement toward and away from said perforated wheel; a recording medium to be intermittently fed between said perforated wheel and perforating mechanism; and a mechanism adapted to prevent said perforating mechanism from repeatedly perforating said recording medium at the same area thereof, whereby said recording medium is defined a mark therein at one time as said perforating mechanism is moved toward and urged against said perforated wheel.

The above and other objects and attendant advantages of the present invention will be more readily apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which show one preferred embodiment of the invention for purposes of illustration only, but not limiting the scope of the invention in any way. 1

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view of one form .of electric mark perforator constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of said mark perforator of FIG. 1 taken substantially along the longitudinal axis of the perforator;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of said mark perforator of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal, fragmentary sectional view of the mark character selection mechanism of said mark perforator of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of said mark selection mechanism of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view in partial section ofa portion of said mark selection mechanism of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a subassembly which constitutes part of said mark selection mechanism of FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a vertical perspective sectional view of the reduction gear mechanism of said mark perforator of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 9 through 11 inclusive are exploded perspective views of said reduction gear mechanism;

FIG. 12 is a plan view of the perforation mechanism of said perforator of FIG. 1;

FIG. 13 is a front elevational view of said perforation mechanism of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a side elevational view in section of said perforation'mechanism of FIG. 12; and

FIG. 15 is an exploded perspective view of said perforation mechanism.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be now described referring to the accompanying drawings which show one preferred form of electric mark perforator constructed in accordance with the invention for illustration and as shown in FIG. 1, the mark perforator generally comprises a main body 1 on which various components of the perforator are mounted and which has a main cover 3 closing the upper portion of the main body, the cover having a circular cut in the top where a plurality of push buttons 2, 2 which bear different marks such as characters, numerals and/or other symbols are exposed. The main cover 3 further has a front cover 6 which inclines downwardly and forwardly as shown by numeral and which is provided with a center window covered by a transparent plastic sheet 4. The purpose of the window 4 is that the transport of a lead tape T (of which description will be made hereinafter) by a conventional transport mechanism (not shown) can be inspected.

An electric motor 7 which serves as the prime mover for the various moving parts of the mark perforator is positioned on the rear side of the main body 1 (see FIG. 2). The output shaft 8 of the motor 7 has a pulley 9 fixedly mounted thereon and an endless belt 10 is trained over thepulley. The belt 10 is also trained over another or reduction pulley 11 which also serves as a fly wheel and isfreely mounted on a vertically extending main shaft 13 together with a sun gear 12 by means of a bushing 14 so that the reduction pulley 11 and sun gear 12 can rotate in unison. Although not shown, the prime mover also incorporates a power source plug socket, a safety fuse, a wiring terminal and the like provided on the rear side of the main body 1.

Meshing with the sun gear 12 are three planetary gears 15 (See FIGS. 8 and 9) which are freely mounted on the respectively associated stub shafts 17 which are supported in a flange 16 which is in turn fixedly mounted on the main shaft 13. A plate cam 19 having an eccentric boss 32 is freely mounted on the main shaft 13 by means of bearings 18 and an internal gear 20 (see also FIG. 10) is secured to the lower side of the plate cam 19 in meshing engagement with the planetary gears. A crank arm 22 (FIG. 10) is loosely fitted on the eccentric boss 32 of the plate cam 19 with an annular crank metal 21 interposed therebetween. A bearing housing 26 (FIGS. 2, 8) is mounted on the base 23 of the main body 1 about the main shaft 13 by means of upper and lower bearings 24 and 25 disposed around the shaft at different heights and a toothed wheel 28 is mounted on the main shaft 13 over the housing 26 by means of the upper bearings 24. The wheel 28 has a 4 plurality of teeth 27 in the periphery and keyed to the vmain shaft 13 by means of a circular key 29. Thus, the wheel 28 is rotatable relative to the housing 26 and the wheel is also provided with a plurality of small holes 30 in the periphery of the wheel below the teeth 27 the size of which is just sufficient to allow cooperating perforation needles (of which description will be made hereinafter) to pass therethrough so as to define desired marks such as characters, numerals and/or other symbols in the lead tape T in the manner as will be in detail described hereinafter. The wheel 28 also has a mark selection stopper 31 secured to the top thereof which is actuated when a mark is selected. The toothed wheel 28 is further provided in the periphery with a number of small perforations 30 which define different marks such as characters, numerals and other symbols in the same spaced relationship as that of the perforation needles so that when a particular mark is desired to be defined in one frame of the lead tape T, only the needles which cooperate in defining the particular mark strike against the non-holed or solid areas surrounded by the small holes 30 and are stopped thereby whereas the remaining needles which do not serve to define the mark are allowed to pass through the respectively corresponding holes 30 thereby to leave a nonperforated area in the tape frame which indicates the desired mark.

Provided between the motor 7 and the abovementioned reduction gear mechanism on the base 23 of the main body 1 is a clutch stopper 33 (FIG. 11) which has a center opening 35 in which an eccentric fulcrum positioning bushing 34 is fitted and the positioning bushing has an eccentric threaded opening 36 for re ceiving a threaded clutch fulcrum pin 37. The clutch stopper 33 further has a pair of arms 33 and 33" extending from the center opening 35 in the opposite directions at different heights. The fulcrum bushing 34 serves to adjust the alignment between the perforated wheel 28 and cooperating perforation needles 38 in the perforation station.

An upright spring anchoring pin (not shown) is provided in the base 23 of the mainbody 1 adjacent to one side of the motor 7 and one end of a horizontal clutch spring 40 (FIG. 11) is anchored to the pin and the other end of the spring is anchored to one arm 33' of the clutch stopper 33 which has a pawl 41 so that an end roller 42 at the end of a pin received in an opening 45 in the other arm 33" by means of a bush 44 is urged against the peripheral edge portion 43 of the plate cam 19 (FIGS. 8 and 10) integral with the internal gear 20 and at the same time, the pawl 41 is urged into between selected two teeth 27 of the plural teeth on the perforated wheel 28 which is concentric to the plate cam 19. The above-mentioned end roller 42 is attached to the pin received in the adjusting eccentric bush 44 which is in turn fitted in the opening 45 formed in the other arm 33" of the clutch stopper 33 in such a manner that the stabilized position of the roller can be adjusted relative to the arm 33". When the internal gear 20 integral with the plate cam 19 is subjected to any load which forces the gear to halt its rotation and the motor is rotated under the conditions, the perforated wheel 28 rotates under no-load or lost motion conditions.

Now description will be made of the mechanism which prevents any mark of the lead tape from being repeatedly defined in the same frame.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 4, and 7 a stop board 47 has a plurality of through holes 46, 46 arranged in a circle with a predetermined spaced relationship for receiving vertically movable manipulation bars 48 which have the push buttons 2. A second stop board 51 is provided over the first stop board 47 and is also provided with a plurality of through holes the number and position of which correspond to those of the aligned holes 46 in the first stop board 47. The diameter of the through holes 50 is larger than that of the corresponding holes in the first stop board and the push-button carrying manipulation bars 48 also pass through the through holes 50 in the second stop board. Coil springs 49 are provided in the respectively associated through holes 51) surrounding the manipulation bars 48.. A third or uppermost stop board 52 is provided over the second stop board 51 and has the same number of through holes 53 through which the manipulation bars 48 also extend in alignment with the corresponding holes 46 and 58 in the first two stop boards. The diameter of the through holes 53in the uppermost stop board 52 is substantially the same as that of the corresponding holes in the first stop board 47 so that the coil springs 49 can be held in compression from above. Four tie rods 54 extend vertically through the three stop boards 47, 51 and 52 at four spaced positions and ring rollers 55 (FIG. 7) are freely received on the respectively associated tie rods 54 riding on the uppermost stop board 52 for rotation about the axis of the rods. A return ring 56 (FIG. 7) is provided adjacent to each of the rollers 55 in peripheral contact with the roller and the upper edge 56 of the ring 56 is provided with a plurality of equally spaced notches 58 (three notches in the illustrated embodiment) having a sloped face 57 (see FIG. 7). The

.return ring 56 is also provided in the periphery with an operation pin 59. A return plate or disc 60 having the same number of through holes 61 as and in alignment with the corresponding holes in the three stop boards through which the manipulation bars 48 also extend is provided over the uppermost stop board 61). The return plate 60 is provided in the periphery with a plurality of lateral stub shafts 63 the number and position of which correspond to those of the notches 58 in the return ring 56 and rollers 62 are rotatably mounted on the stub shafts for rolling contact with the notches 58. A coil spring 64 (FIG. 4) extends between and anchored at the opposite ends to the intermediate stop board 52 and each of the return disc roller pins 63.

A lever bushing 65 (see FIGS. 4 and 6) is provided on the side of the reduction gear mechanism comprising the sun gear 12 andplanetary gears 15 on the base 23 of the main body 1 and a lever pin 66 (FIGS. 4, 5, and 6) extends loosely through the bushing 65. A return lever 67 is secured to the lower end of the leverpin 66 and has. a roller 68 mounted thereon for contact with the periphery of the plate cam 19. A lever 69 is secured to the upper end of the lever pin 66 and a return pin 70 extends uprightly from the other end of the lever 69. A coil spring 72 extends between and is anchored at the opposite ends to the return pin 70 and an upright pin 71 extending vertically from the lever 69 so as to urge the roller 68 against the periphery of the plate cam 19. The return pin 70 is connected through a synthetic resin connector member 73 to a horizontal operation pin 59 extending from the return ring 56.

movement. A perforation mechanism comprising a group of perforation needles 38, 38 (FIG. 12) is movably provided in the mark perforator. In order to intermittently feed the lead tape T in increments at a constant rate, as shown in FIG. 12, a knurled roller 77 having ratchet teeth 76 in the periphery is journalled on the movable perforation plate by means of a pin 82 and a guide roller 80 journalled on a holder 78 by means of a pin 81 is provided closely adjacent to the knurled roller 77 with a narrow space defined between the peripheries of these two rollers for passage of the lead tape T therethrough intermittently in increments at the constant rate. As shown, the lead tape T is wound about a reel 84 which is integral with a reel pin 81 and payed out of the reel to pass through the space between the knurled roller 77 and a guide roller 80 adjacent to the roller 77 to be passed to the perforation station to be described in detail hereinafter. The holder 78 is pivoted to the base 23 of the main body 1 by means of a pin 83 (FIGS. 12 and 13) and the base 23 also has the base end of a tape feed plate 85 secured by means of a threaded bar 86, The tape feed plate 85 is loaded with a spring 108. The tape feed plate 85 is adapted to feed the tape T by a distance corresponding to the space between adjacent marks to bedefined in the lead tape and the leading end of the tape feed plate 85 passes through the space between the perforation plate 75 and holder 78 and bends at the lower end as shown by numeral 87 to engage the ratchet teeth 76 on the knurled roller 77. The knurled roller 77 operates in unison with the perforation mechanismv of which dggription will be made hereinafter and when the perforation mechanism returns to the original position, the ratchet teeth 76 engages the bent end of the feed plate 85 to rotate the roller 77 so as to feed the lead tape by one frame. A roller spring anchoring pin 88 projects from the underside of the base 23 of the main body 1 and one end of a spring 89 is anchored to the pin 88 whereas the other end of the spring is anchored to the pin 81 so as to urge the guide roller 80 against the knurled roller 77 whereby the lead tape T is fed to the perforation station.

A lower or fixed tape shearing blade 90 (FIG. 14) is provided on the side of the perforation mechanism in the path of the lead tape T in a position to contact the underside of the tape T and a cooperating upper or movable shearing blade 91 is also provided for cooperating the under shearing blade 90 to cut the tape off. The lower and upper blades 90 and 91 are pivoted at 92 to actas scissors. The upper blade 91 has an integral projection 91' on which a coil spring 93 acts and one end 91" of the upper blade 91 contacts a pin 96. extending laterally from an operation rod 95 which extends outwardly from the window plate 94. When the operation rod 95 is pushed down, the downward movement of the operation rod is transmitted to the upper blade 91 to move the blade down to intersect the lower blade 98 to shear the tape T 08.

As shown in FIG. 15, the perforation mechanism comprises a support block 99 which has a pair of pin support plates 97 and 98 extending uprightly at the opposite ends of the block and 26 perforation needles 38, 38 which are movably supported in and extend through the through holes 38 in the support plates 97 and 98. An intermediate support plate 101 having through holes the number and position of which correspond to the aligned holes in the support plates 97 and 98 is positioned adjacent to and inwardly spaced from the support plate 98 with a spacer 100 interposed therebetween. The spacer 100 is shorter in height than the associated support plate 98 so as not to block the through holes 38 in the support plate 98 whereby a clearance 102 is defined between the upper portions of the support plate 98 and intermediate support plate 101 through which the lead tape T passes. Similarly, a needle return plate 103 having through holes the number and position of which correspond to those of the corresponding holes 38' in the support plates 97 and 98 is positioned adjacent to and inwardly spaced from the support plate 97 in such a manner that the return plate 103 strikes against the flanges (not shown) of the needles to return the needles to their original position.

The support block 99 is fitted and held in the groove 75 in the perforation plate 75 and the perforation plate 75 is in turn fitted in the space between the rails 74. Threaded fastening means such as screws 105 (FIGS. 2 and 14) secure both the perforation plate 75 and support plate 106 underlying the rails 74 to the crank arm 22. Thus, the block 99 carrying the support plates 97, 98 and perforation needles 38 are movable toward and away from the perforation wheel 28. The needles 38 are so designed that when the perforation mechanism comprising the needles is moved toward the perforated wheel 28 in response to the actuation of a particular push button, only the needles which then cooperate in defining the particular mark corresponding to the mark carried by the actuated push button strike against the non-holed areas in the periphery of the wheel 28 surrounded by the small holes 30 and are stopped thereby whereas the remaining needles may pass through the respectively corresponding smallholes 30 thereby to define the particular mark on the lead tape T. Even after the selected needles have been stopped by unholed areas of the wheel, since the support block 99 continues to advance, the remaining needles other than the stopped needles are allowed to pass through the corresponding small holes 30 in the wheel and perforate the lead tape T so as to leave an perforated area in the tape which represents the particular mark. The support plate 97 (FIG. 14) has a suspending plate 107 secured to the stop board 47 and the needle support plate 103 is returned to its original position as the support block returns to the original position.

The operation on the electric mark perforator of the invention as described hereinabove will be now described.

According to the present invention, the push buttons 2 which carry different marks such as characters, numerals and/or other symbols are adapted to be actuated or pushed down individually and before the push buttons are pushed down, the internal gear and plate cam 19 with the eccentric boss 32 remain stationary whereas the sun gear 12, planetary gears 15 and perforated wheel 28 are rotating. The planetary gears 15 revolve about the sun gear 12 while rotating about their own axes.

With the above conditions of the parts, when a selected push button 2 carrying a selected or desired character or numeral is depressed down, the selection stopper 31 projecting from the perforated wheel 28 abuts against the particular manipulation bar 48 which is integral with the selected push button 2 or more particularly, the lower end of the manipulation bar 48 enters one of the three circular notches 31 31 and 31 (FIG. 6) to stop the rotation of the perforated wheel in the position in which the mark corresponding to that of the pushed button and defined by some of the small holes 30 in the periphery of the wheel is positioned in the perforation station.

Thus, the revolutional movement of the planetary gears 15 integral with the wheel 28 about the sun gear 12 is halted, but the rotational movement of the planetary gears 15 about their own axes is allowed and only the sun gear 12 continues to rotate about the axis of the main shaft 13 resulting in rotation of the internal gear 20.

Thus, the area in the periphery of the wheel 28 corresponding to the selected push button 2 comes to the perforating position where it faces to the perforation needles 38. Since the internal gear 20 and plate cam 19 with the eccentric boss 32 are integral with each other, when the internal gear 20 rotates, the crank arm 22 moves to operate the eccentric mechanism in cooperation with the cam 19 to impart a cranking movement to the mechanism to bring the perforation needles 38 between adjacent dies whereby the character or numeral carried by the selected push button 2 is perforated in the lead tape T present between the type and needles.

Before the actuated needles 38 return to their original position after the perforation operation, the employed push button 2 is allowed to return to its original or non-pushed position. Thereafter, the tape is fed by one frame or a distance necessary for the next perforation operation. The above procedure is repeated until a desired number of characters and/or numerals have been defined in the lead tape T to provide an information whereupon the upper and lower shearing blades and 91 are actuated to shear the perforated section of the lead tape off the mark defined section of the tape.

Although the best mode contemplated for carrying out the present invention has been herein shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variation may be made without departing from what is regarded to be the subject matter of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An electric mark perforator comprising a main body; a rotatable, perforated wheel having a plurality of marks perforated therein; a perforating means mounted in said body and having a plurality of perforating needles adapted for movement toward and away from the perforated wheel; a recording medium positioned between the wheel and the perforating means; actuating means mounted in said body for reciprocal movement for positioning said wheel in a perforation position whereby insertion of the needles in the perforations of the wheel produces the definition of a selected mark in said medium; and drive means for rotating the wheel and for moving a plurality of said needles toward the wheel so as to define said selected mark in said medium or away from said wheel.

2. An electric mark perforator according to claim 1, further comprising means adapted to prevent the perfo- 9 rating means from repeatedly perforating the recording medium at-the same area thereof.

3. An electric mark perforatorcomprising a main body; a rotatable, perforated wheel having a plurality of marks perforated therein; a perforating means mounted in said body and having a plurality of perforating needles adapted for movement toward and away from said perforated wheel; a recording medium positioned between the wheel and the perforating means; actuating means cooperable with said wheel for positioning the latter in a perforation position whereby insertion of said needles in the perforations of said wheel produces the definition. of the mark in said medium, said actuating means being mounted in said body for reciprocal movement and having a plurality of markbearing members, drive means for rotating the wheel and for moving said plurality of needles toward the wheel so as to define a desired mark in said medium or away from said wheel; and means adapted to prevent the perforating means from repeatedly perforating the recording medium at the same area thereof.

4. An electric mark perforator according to claim 3, wherein the drive means comprises a planetary gear mechanism mounted in concentric relationship withthe wheel and comprising a sun gear, a plurality of planetary gears, and a prime mover operatively connected to the sun gear for rotating the planetary gear mechanism.

5. An electric mark perforator according to claim 4, wherein the actuating means comprises a push button actuating mechanism and the wheel has a stopping means adapted to be abutted against by one of the push buttons of the push button actuating mechanism when said one button is actuated by the actuating mechamsm.

6. An electric mark perforator according to claim 5, further comprising an internal gear adapted to mesh with the planetary gears and operatively connected to 10 the push button actuating mechanism.

7. An electric mark perforator according to claim 6, further comprising a main shaft in said main body, the wheel being mounted on said shaft, the internal gear being operatively connected to the push button actuating mechanism by means of a crank having a plate cam with an eccentric boss loosely mounted on the shaft.

8. An electric mark perforator according to claim 7, comprising a push button return lever operatively connected to the plate cam having the eccentric boss for operation in response to the reciprocal movement of the push button actuating mechanism.

9. An electric mark perforator according to claim 7, comprising a guide board mechanism for guiding and returning the push buttons to the original position from their depressed position, said board mechanism having a roller projecting therefrom, and a cam wheel rotatably mounted on the perforated wheel and adapted to be abutted against by the projecting roller.

10. An electric mark perforator comprising a main body; a push button actuating mechanism mounted in said body for reciprocal movement and having a plurality of mark-bearing push buttons; a rotatable, perforated wheel having a series of marks perforated therein and positionable in a perforation position when the push button actuating mechanism is actuated; means for stopping rotation of the wheel, said means being cooperable with the push button actuating mechanism; a perforating mechanism mounted on the main body and having a plurality of perforating needles adapted for movement toward and away from the perforated wheel; a recording medium adapted to be fed intermittently between the perforated wheel and the perforating mechanism; and a means adapted to prevent the perforating means from repeatedly perforating the recording medium at the same area thereof. 

1. An electric mark perforatoR comprising a main body; a rotatable, perforated wheel having a plurality of marks perforated therein; a perforating means mounted in said body and having a plurality of perforating needles adapted for movement toward and away from the perforated wheel; a recording medium positioned between the wheel and the perforating means; actuating means mounted in said body for reciprocal movement for positioning said wheel in a perforation position whereby insertion of the needles in the perforations of the wheel produces the definition of a selected mark in said medium; and drive means for rotating the wheel and for moving a plurality of said needles toward the wheel so as to define said selected mark in said medium or away from said wheel.
 2. An electric mark perforator according to claim 1, further comprising means adapted to prevent the perforating means from repeatedly perforating the recording medium at the same area thereof.
 3. An electric mark perforator comprising a main body; a rotatable, perforated wheel having a plurality of marks perforated therein; a perforating means mounted in said body and having a plurality of perforating needles adapted for movement toward and away from said perforated wheel; a recording medium positioned between the wheel and the perforating means; actuating means cooperable with said wheel for positioning the latter in a perforation position whereby insertion of said needles in the perforations of said wheel produces the definition of the mark in said medium, said actuating means being mounted in said body for reciprocal movement and having a plurality of mark-bearing members, drive means for rotating the wheel and for moving said plurality of needles toward the wheel so as to define a desired mark in said medium or away from said wheel; and means adapted to prevent the perforating means from repeatedly perforating the recording medium at the same area thereof.
 4. An electric mark perforator according to claim 3, wherein the drive means comprises a planetary gear mechanism mounted in concentric relationship with the wheel and comprising a sun gear, a plurality of planetary gears, and a prime mover operatively connected to the sun gear for rotating the planetary gear mechanism.
 5. An electric mark perforator according to claim 4, wherein the actuating means comprises a push button actuating mechanism and the wheel has a stopping means adapted to be abutted against by one of the push buttons of the push button actuating mechanism when said one button is actuated by the actuating mechanism.
 6. An electric mark perforator according to claim 5, further comprising an internal gear adapted to mesh with the planetary gears and operatively connected to the push button actuating mechanism.
 7. An electric mark perforator according to claim 6, further comprising a main shaft in said main body, the wheel being mounted on said shaft, the internal gear being operatively connected to the push button actuating mechanism by means of a crank having a plate cam with an eccentric boss loosely mounted on the shaft.
 8. An electric mark perforator according to claim 7, comprising a push button return lever operatively connected to the plate cam having the eccentric boss for operation in response to the reciprocal movement of the push button actuating mechanism.
 9. An electric mark perforator according to claim 7, comprising a guide board mechanism for guiding and returning the push buttons to the original position from their depressed position, said board mechanism having a roller projecting therefrom, and a cam wheel rotatably mounted on the perforated wheel and adapted to be abutted against by the projecting roller.
 10. An electric mark perforator comprising a main body; a push button actuating mechanism mounted in said body for reciprocal movement and having a plurality of mark-bearing push buttons; a rotatable, perforated wheel having a series of marks perforated therein and positionable in a perforation position when the push buttoN actuating mechanism is actuated; means for stopping rotation of the wheel, said means being cooperable with the push button actuating mechanism; a perforating mechanism mounted on the main body and having a plurality of perforating needles adapted for movement toward and away from the perforated wheel; a recording medium adapted to be fed intermittently between the perforated wheel and the perforating mechanism; and a means adapted to prevent the perforating means from repeatedly perforating the recording medium at the same area thereof. 